Articles in the May-June 2017 Category

Subha Das Mollick
There are movies where machines take the centre stage— machines that are endowed with human capabilities. Two movies are discussed in this article— one where the human protagonist revives a dead machine and another where the human protagonist kills the machine. Both the movies can be used by the physics and the computer science teacher or even the history teacher to discuss points relevant to life. Read on to find out more.

Amitava Nag
Teachers can make use of this article in interesting ways. Though much of the information given here can be found
anywhere, within the confines of a classroom, a teacher can set up a discussion with her students about Big data. Students can be asked to find out more about their browsing habits and whether they are leaving behind any digital traces or even whether the results of any sport can be predicted using data science.

Ketan Deshmukh and Kathan Shukla
Is it possible to use social media for academic learning? The authors of this article state that it is beneficial to embrace social media usage for student learning. In this however, teachers need to play an active role in enabling students to seek, filter and establish sources of knowledge and foster formation of their students personal learning network. Here are a few tips that will help teachers put this practice in place.

Sushmita Pandit
How can digital pedagogy be used to engage with the world or to understand humanities? Digital pedagogy is not
something that uses electronic tools or computers. So, how can we even imagine a digital pedagogy without the limiting factor of electronics? This very interesting article has several examples that explain what digital pedagogy is and how teachers can make use of classroom practices to get some clues.

Aruna Malapati and Tathagata Ray
Algorithms are the soul of programming. An algorithm is a sequence of operations or instructions executed to solve a problem or perform a task. While writing an algorithm for a computer, you have to be precise in your instructions and this is the challenge that lies before programmers. To do this, one needs to have critical thinking skills, and with proper training, this can be cultivated. Here is a list of some different tools and resources that can be used to teach algorithms and programming.

Prakash Iyer
Is the Internet a good replacement for textbooks? Does its richness and free access to information and learning create more problems for pedagogy? Does the role of a teacher become more complex because of the Internet? In this article the author argues that while the Internet must be used in the teaching – learning process, educators must also teach children to assess sources of information, help them distinguish between truth and opinions. In fact they have a greater responsibility in this technological age.

Divya Choudary
This is the age of Virtual Reality and yes, as a teacher , you can bring it into the classroom, discover the new medium along with your students and try and integrate it into the curriculum. Through sight, sound and touch, VR allows users to immerse themselves in a virtual context. Here are some amazing examples that teachers can try out in their class.

Nisheeth Srivastava
Computerised data analysis is now catching up in all fields— from governance to sport and to health as well. This article is a must read for all teachers . Any teacher- from a history teacher to an economics teacher to someone well versed in social sciences- who would like to go beyond the text book can use this aspect of computer science to make her subject far more interesting .